J ross carpenter



No. 617,278. Patented m. 3, I899.

.1. R. CARPENTER. WHEELB'ARROW.

(Application filed. June 8, 1898.) (No Modei.)

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J ROSS CARPENTER, OF LITTLE YORK, ILLINOIS;

.WHEELBA'RROW.

srncIF'IcArIon forming part of Letters Patent No. 617,278, dated Ianuary s, 1899.

Application filed June 8, 1898. Serial No. 682,908. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J Ross CARPENTER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Little York, Warren count-y, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wheelbarrows; and my preferred manner of carrying out the invention is set forth in the following full, clear, and exact description, terminating with claims particularly specifying the novelty.

This invention relates to the general class of carriages and wagons, and more especially to that kind of vehicles known as wheelbarrows, and the object of the same is to produce a barrow whose side-boards can be set upright, horizontal, or at an angle between these positions or can be removed entirely.

To this end the invention consists in the specific construction of the mechanism I preferably employ for supporting the side-boards in the desired position or for permitting their entire removal from the body of the barrow, all as hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a plan view of this improved barrow with one side vertical and the other side let down to a horizontal position. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through the barrow, looking toward a side-board which is in vertical position. Fig. 3 is a perspective detail of parts of the barrow, showing the means for removing one of the side-boards. Fig. 4 is a perspective detail of one of the wings viewed from the front.

In the said drawings the numerals 1 designate the side beams, having handles 2 at their rear ends and a wheel 3 between their front ends, as usual. 4 are the legs, suitably braced at 5. G are cross-bars connecting the side beams. 7 is the bottom, which connects the beams and extends only about half-way from the inner to the outer edge of each side beam, so as to leave a shoulder 7 for the purpose described below. 8 is the upright front end of the barrow, and 9 are the side-boards. All these parts are of the usual or of any preferred construction, and the exact shapes, proportions, and materials are unimportant.

00min g now more particularly to the present invention, 10 are upright posts rising from the side beams and supporting the side edges of the front end 8, and each post is slotted transversely to the length of the barrow, as seen. I might here say that the two sides of this barrow are practically duplicates, and hencea description of one will suffice for both. In the slot in the post 10 moves a wing 11, of substantially sector shape, its angle having a pivot 12, supported in a block or other device 13, mounted on the side beam forward of the post, and its body having a series of holes 14, struck on a circle around said pivot. The outer straight edge of this wing is truly radial and is bent to the rear in a flange 15. Through its body, near the pivot and just inside said flange, is a hole 16, and in the outer curved edge of the wing, just inside said flange, is a notch 17. The third or inner edge of this three-sided wing extends outward for a short distance on a radial line, beyond which its body has a projection 18, and the extremity of this projection, near the curved edge of the wing, is bent forward into a lug 19. The entire wing is preferably of sheet metal and of the size and shape described in order that when mounted on its pivot it may be swung thereover until the lug l9 strikes the inner face of the post 10 and the flange 15 stands horizontal. From this position it may swing partially inward, so as to cause the flange 15 to stand oblique, or it may be swung entirely inward, so that the flange 15 shall stand vertical, at which time the projection 18 at its inner edge passes down in front of the board 8 and stands between the two side beams of the barrow.

20 is a catch pivoted at 21 between its ends to the inner side of the post 10 forward of the slot therein, its upper end having a point 22, adapted to engage any of the holes in the wing, and its lower end being connected with a spring 23, tending to throw the point into such engagement, while 24 is awire or light chain leading from the lower end of the catch rearward beneath the body of the barrow to a small lever 25, pivoted beneath the side beam and within reach of the operator, as clearly illustrated.

Each side-board 9 preferably has a rounded lower edge 30 to fit within the shoulder 7 formed between the edge of the bottom. board and the exposed portion of the side beam, and at its rear lower corner the side-board has a pin 31, adapted to engage an eye 32 in the free outer end of a spring 33, that is attached to the rear edge of said bottom board. Projecting from the front edge of the sideboard is another pin 34, located so as to engage the hole 16 in the wing, and projecting from the front upper corner of the side-board is a hook 35, adapted to engage the notch 17 in the rounded edge of the wing, the inner or active face of this hook being beveled, as seen in Fig. 3.

With the above construction of parts, the side-boards being engaged with the wings and in upright position, as is usual in a wheelbarrow,when it is desired to open these boards, as for the reception of a somewhat larger load than the normal size of barrow will carry, the operation is as follows: The hand-lever 25 is drawn to the rear, which movement through the rod or chain turns the catch on its pivot against the tension of its spring and draws its tip out of engagement with the hole in the wing nearest to its flange 15, and thereafter the side-board may be let down to the desired angle and the hand-lever released to permit rengagement of the tip of the catch with another of the holes in the wing.

This improved barrow has provision for a large fiat surface, as when the two side-boards are let down until their inner faces stand in a plane with the upper face of the bottom, (the shoulder between the edges of the latter and the upper faces of the side beams permitting,) and in order to produce this position of parts it is obviously only necessary to permit the side-boards to descend to a horizontal position, at which time the lug 19 at the inner end of the wing will strike against the inner face of the post 10 whether the catch is in use or not. In some instances it becomes desirable to remove the side boards entirely, and this is effected by first raising each one to a vertical position, as seen at the top of Fig. 1, and then moving it, as shown in Fig. 3-that is to say, the free end of the spring 33 is borne to the rear to disengage its eye from the pin 31 at the rear lower corner of the side-board. The rear end of this board is then raised, which draws the front pin 34 out of the hole 16 in the wing, the beveled active face of the hook 35 permitting, and, finally, the side-board is raised bodily, so as to disengage said hook from the notch 17 in the curved edge of the wing. Thereafter the barrow can be used in the ordinary way without the side-boards, and the latter can be replaced by a reverse movement when desired. WVhile the parts may be of any desired material, I prefer sheet metal for the wings, as above described,for the reason that it is much cheaper and easier to make them of that material, and they are lighter and stronger. However, no especial stress is laid upon this fact nor upon the exact details of construction, which may be varied to a considerable extent without departing from the principle of my invention.

What is claimed as new is 1. In a wheelbarrow, the combination with the side beams supported bya wheel, the front end piece, the bottom board whose edges ex tend only part way over and are secured upon the upper faces of said beams, and springs secured to the rear end of said bottom board and having eyes in their projecting ends; of side-boards with their lower edges fitting in the shoulders at the sides of the bottom board, inwardly-projecting wings at their front ends moving adjacent the end piece, pivots near the lower front corners of the side-boards, means for locking the latter in different positions, and rearwardly-projecting pins at their lower rear corners removably engaging the eyes in said springs, as'and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a wheelbarrow, the combination with the side beams supported by a wheel, and the bottom board Whose edges extend only part way over and are secured upon said side beams so as to leave a shoulder adjacent said edges of wings pivoted on the side beams adjacent the front end of the bottom board, means for holding these wings in various positions, side-boards having rounded lower edges standing in said shoulders and their bodies being of the thickness of the bottom board devices for detachably connecting their front ends with said wings, and detachable pivots at the lower rear corners of said sideboards, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a wheelbarrow, the combination with the body having upright slotted posts at its front corners, the side-boards, and pivots at the lower corners of the latter; of a sectorshaped wing moving through each slot and having a rearwardly=bent flange at its outer radial edge and a forwardly-bent lug at the inner corner of its curved edge, the front end of said side-board detachably engaging the flange and said lug adapted to engage the post, and means for locking this wing in various positions, as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a wheelbarrow, the combination with the body having upright posts at its front cor ners, the side-boards, pivots at the lower corners of the latter, and sector-shaped wings each moving adjacent a post and detachably connected at its outer straight edge with the front end of a side-board, its body having a series of holes on a circle around its pivot; of a catch pivoted to the inner face of the post with its tip adapted to engage any of said holes, a spring throwing the lower end of the catch forward, a hand-lever pivoted beneath the rear of the barrow, and connections between this lever and the lower end of the catch, as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a wheelbarrow, the combination with the body, removable side-boards each having a pin projecting from its front end and a hook projecting from its front upper corner and provided with a beveled active face, and detachable connections between the rear lower Ito corners of the side-boards and said body; of

wings connected to the body, each having a edge near its outer edge, and a catch for holding this wing in various positions; of two side-boards, each having means at its lower rear corner for detachable connection with said pivot and projecting from its front end a hook to engage said notch in the wing, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my signature on this the 9th day of May, A. D. 1898.

J ROSS CARPENTER. WVitnesses:

W. S. HARTLEY, F. M. HALLAM. 

